For a heathen like me, films with religious overtones are usually best when played for their camp entertainment value, a la THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. Something where the spectacle overwhelms anything overtly pious. Personal religious stories tend to come off as preachy and make my skin crawl. So why do...

Today, HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY is known as the film that  most cinephiles believe “undeservedly” won the 1941 Best Picture prize over CITIZEN KANE. While VALLEY may not be a groundbreaking film, it is a moving and touching memoir. Based on Richard Llewellyn’s novel, John Ford’s...

AIRPORT was the beginning and the end. The beginning of a successful franchise and the disaster movie genre of the 1970’s. And the end of one of the most influential film composers of all time--Alfred Newman. While tame by today’s standards of disasters, both in film and real life, AIRPORT...

When THIS IS CINERAMA was released in 1952, critics called it “The answer to television!” Cinerama was a new process in which three camera magazines were mounted as one. The 27-millimeter lenses, which filmed three separate images with a single shutter, together had the same focal length as the...

I may not have been pleased with the packaging of 20th Century Fox’s 50th anniversary DVD of THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK, but the power of George Stevens’ film and Alfred Newman’s score remain intact. Like the sun pouring through the attic’s broken skylight, Newman’s beautiful...

It’s an Alfred Newman kinda week here at Film Score Click Track. And today we visit my favorite film, which also just happens to feature a score by Newman, my favorite film composer. (Just a coincidence, trust me.) The ultimate film about the theatre, ALL ABOUT EVE racked up the most nominations...

For the 50th anniversary of THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK (1959), 20th Century Fox has rereleased the film on DVD and for the first time on Blu-ray. Since I have yet to make the leap to Blu-ray, this review will cover the DVD release. Whether on the page, on stage, or onscreen, the story of Anne Frank and...

From George Washington to George W. Bush, the American presidency has always inspired film composers. Though this post is a bit late to celebrate the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth in February, it’s never too late to visit John Ford’s YOUNG MR. LINCOLN (1939) and Alfred Newman’s...

On the one month anniversary of FilmScoreClickTrack, I pay tribute to my favorite film composer–ALFRED NEWMAN. No, Newman is not Alfred E. Neuman, the face of Mad magazine. Though, according to the WMFU Blog, in an interview with The Comics Journal, Mad editor Henry Kurtzman recalled: The...